fracking

[srijantje]

I just saw the docu Gasland,absolutely awfull what's happening ,it's a free for all without any legislation it seems,anybody directly affected by it?

[Leanne]

The whole CSG thing is happening pretty much on my doorstep now in SE Qld and while I wouldn't mind cheaper energy, the fact is that there's absolutely no guarantee that the (now privatised, thanks to a fucking incompetent government) energy companies won't simply use it as an excuse to increase their margins while completely screwing the water tables. In Australia, the importance of aquifers cannot be understated. We're the driest continent on earth and we bloody well need what little water we have to stay as pure as possible. There is a test case in the court system just now where farmers have started a class action against the government-backed but privately profiting corporations to deny them access to their land, although in Australia at least (I don't know about the rest of the world) you pretty much only own the top part of your land, any minerals underneath are the property of the Crown. Sucks eh?

So yeah, VERY directly affected by it and really unhappy.

[srijantje]

i can imagine,if you can, watch the docu,if you think your energy will get cheaper,you're dreaming,it's solely for profit
all of a sudden my outrage over rubbish thrown in rivers and streams around here seem trivial,
the problem,as always,is the nexus between government and big business,a hard nut to crack,see the banking system among other things
this time though,they might have gone too far,one can only hope

[Leanne]

In Queensland, we have a little bit of hope -- state parliament elections coming up and if there is any higher power in the universe, or if voters have the slightest claim to brains, the Labor government will be utterly annihilated and all their self-serving cronyism will come to a violent end. If not, I may be fairly easily incited to violence.

A responsible government understands that the environment is more than just a buzzword for hippies.

[srijantje]

if the labours don't pay any head,you think the conservatives will?anyway,i don't know what these ""people" are up to,make enough money to buy another planet for themselves?

[srijantje]

WWW.TOMDISPATCH.COM

Tomgram: Ellen Cantarow, Big Energy Means

Big Pollution | TomDispatch

i thought this might be an interesting addition to the thread

[Dibbz]

The scene in Gasland where the man is able to set his own water tap on fire horrified me. I know most of you have already seen the documentary, but for those who haven't, you can watch it in full here.

http://opendocumentaries.com/watch/gasla...ZN_g8r5_IU

[velvetfog]

Watch the movie Promised Land (2012) starring Matt Damon.
It deals with the subject of small town opposition to having an energy company come in and fracking their local shale based natural gas deposits.

You can download it here: -->